Dawn's 56 gallon natural nutrient garden

vlangel · May 7, 2023

kevinl said:
I'm sorry now that I spilled that sample of water I took when I came to visit!!
Every once in a while I would take my water to the store and test it there.
I also have 2 different brands of test kits for each parameter I'm testing also.
I still recommend you take your water and have it tested somewhere.
Always, always, when in doubt water changes are your best friend.

Different brands of test kits is a good idea. I have always been a proponent of water changes but then I became nervous about the nutrients getting too low because of all the macroalgae growth. Now I am realizing that the macroalgae are not as impactful as I thought. This is all good things to learn before my tank took a downward turn so thank you for all you have shared. Some times I know just enough to be dangerous, ha ha!

kevinl · May 11, 2023

I stopped today to get a sample of water to test for you and no one was home.
Bummer!
I was spraying at your neighbor across the street.

vlangel · May 12, 2023

kevinl said:
I stopped today to get a sample of water to test for you and no one was home.
Bummer!
I was spraying at your neighbor across the street.

Oops, sorry Kevin. Dave and I went to the church to mulch and landscape and it took us a lot longer than it should have since it was hot and we both are out of shape. I will pm you my number you can text or call me.

vlangel · May 14, 2023

I finally got that water change done today. I did 10 gallons so tomorrow I will test nitrates and phosphates to see if they have come down at all. I also cut my fish down to one feeding of frozen a day for the past week and that should help too. If I can get nitrates to 35 ppm, I will be happy. Everything in the tank looks great however. I do worry about my inverts with the nitrates so high however which is my main reason to try and get them down a little.

kevinl · May 16, 2023

So, how did those test numbers look?

vlangel · May 17, 2023

kevinl said:
So, how did those test numbers look?

The nitrates were great and came down to about 30-35 but the phosphates were a whole lot higher, like 2 ppm! I use straight tap water so I don't know if our municipality did something different to the treated water to cause the PO4 to be so high. I have been using straight tap for years and this is not the norm. Anyway, I put a bag of Phosguard in yesterday and will test again tomorrow.

Everything still looks good in the tank however. I know high nitrates are dangerous to some inverts but have never heard that high phosphates can harm any of the animals. I only thought high phosphates are bad for algae control, which could explain why my macroalgae look so good right now. Are you aware of any danger to the animals because of high phosphates?

kevinl · May 17, 2023

I do not know of any harm with high Po4 other than algae.
The store fish only tanks and some invert tanks were really high Po4.

vlangel · May 18, 2023

kevinl said:
I do not know of any harm with high Po4 other than algae.
The store fish only tanks and some invert tanks were really high Po4.

I am not going to worry about it too much then. I will test it today and if its come down some then I am going to remove the Phosguard. I worry more about stripping the nutrients from a tank like mine than I do about somewhat high nutrients.

vlangel · May 18, 2023

I tested PO4 today and its is still the same, at least 2 ppm. I really thought the Phosguard would bring it down some. I do not have a nuisance algae issue so I think I will just let my macroalgae grow more and let it take up more nutrients. I need to test my brute can of new made salt water to see if my water change water is the culprit. If it is, I could order resin, and new cartridges for my RO/DI and start using it, LOL.

kevinl · May 18, 2023

You start putting clean water in, things might change!
Something like this I would wait until you return home.
However, you don't do a lot of water changes so it's probably ok as long as you take it sloooooow.

vlangel · May 19, 2023

kevinl said:
You start putting clean water in, things might change!
Something like this I would wait until you return home.
However, you don't do a lot of water changes so it's probably ok as long as you take it sloooooow.

Yes, sometimes I can be impetuous about my tank but I wholly agree. I should not make any big changes before this trip. (Actually best to not ever make any big changes when a tank looks really good!) I will just let the tank run as it has been and add the RO/DI after I get back and then just slowly adjust the nutrients with water changes.
And who knows, maybe our tap water will have straightened itself out as well. I know they flush the lines periodically and they use methods to filter the water that contributes to phosphates so this may have been just a happen stance event? I need to test the tap to know for sure.

vlangel · May 20, 2023

I tested my tap and the PO4 was 0. So then I tested my brute can of newly made salt water and it also was 0 PO4. That was a surprise but certainly good to know. The phosphates have to be coming from what I feed the tank. Then I remembered that about 3 months ago I thought that I could improve my pod population by feeding the tank either phytoplankton or zooplankton. They are Seachem products but did not need refridgerated so I doubted that there was much alive in it but I was still thinking that it would help the pods. I added a capful every morning. Between that and adding another feeding, I am probably the reason that the phosphates went up, LOL! So I am going to just feed 1 frozen cube a day and continue with my normal weekly water change and probably slowly the tank will move back to what it always was.

Why is it when our tanks are going great that we aquarists get this desire to change something that we somehow think will make our tank even better? Lesson learned, I hope, ha ha! I am just lucky that my tank is as stable as it is to absorb the phosphate jump and not be a green soupy mess.

vlangel · May 22, 2023

I cleaned the tank a little better blowing off detritus and doing a good job on the glass. I noticed that my birdsnest looks better than it has with more polyp extension and its not as browned out. The polyps are more green than they have been so that seems like a good sign. Actually all the colors of my coral look good so maybe I am worrying about the phosphate numbers too much. I have heard that high phosphates causes coral to turn brown. That probably mostly applies to SPS so not so much an issue in my tank since I have very few SPS. At any rate, I am pleased with how the tank looks!

vlangel · Jun 9, 2023

It's been a few weeks since I posted about my tank. It's doing great with both the macroalgae and the coral flourishing. My birdsnest is coloring up nicer than it ever has since I first got it, (which is surprising to me with my phosphates so high. I always heard that high phosphates is why coral turned brown).

I traded some macroalgae with another aquarists in St Louis. He sent me some samples of his macros and I sent samples of mine. It was a good deal for both of us since all it costs us was shipping in a flat rate priority mail box.

This Sunday will only be 2 weeks until Dave and I's big Canadian/Alaskan adventure. The bikes are being serviced in preparation, new tires, oil changes, blah blah blah. Basically it meant spending 3k and we haven't even left the driveway yet, LOL! Anyway, it feels like the tank is in a good place for us to take this trip. The ATO has been working well and so has the auto flake/pellet feeder. The feeder and battery back up pumps will get fresh batteries. So I am ready to do this!

vlangel · Jun 10, 2023

Overnight my gyre started acting up making a racket on one side. I tinkered with it multiple times and finally just gave up and went into my bin of old equipment and pulled out an old power head to use for now. I did not have time to look at the parts that wear but it (the gyre) probably need new ones. Right now with the motorcycle trip that is not a priority since the old power head is doing the job, (although it is just a steady straight flow but I have it aimed at the glass where it will divert and go other directions). That is what I get for saying the tank was ready for this trip! LOL

kevinl · Jun 11, 2023

LOL
The love of a gyre!
You got a couple months of good service, time to service them again!
You can't beat the flow these things provide, that's the only reason I put up with them.

vlangel · Jun 11, 2023

kevinl said:
LOL
The love of a gyre!
You got a couple months of good service, time to service them again!
You can't beat the flow these things provide, that's the only reason I put up with them.

I know, it was perfect and the second the words were written in the post that the tank was ready for this trip the gyre decides to act up. It's funny but it's not. Anyway the old power head I am using is doing a good job, it's just an ugly beast but I don't care about that right now. Actually, I am glad that the gyre acted up before I left so my sister or son were not stuck with dealing with it. I will order new parts when I get home.

Today I am writing instructions down for my sister and son. I am keeping it as simple as possible with them checking water levels in the display and sump, checking the temperature, refilling the ATO and feeding the fish some frozen food. I know this tank can go 3 weeks without a water change so I am not going to complicate it with that. I will catch up after I get back.

Daniel@R2R · Jun 12, 2023

vlangel said:
Overnight my gyre started acting up making a racket on one side. I tinkered with it multiple times and finally just gave up and went into my bin of old equipment and pulled out an old power head to use for now. I did not have time to look at the parts that wear but it (the gyre) probably need new ones. Right now with the motorcycle trip that is not a priority since the old power head is doing the job, (although it is just a steady straight flow but I have it aimed at the glass where it will divert and go other directions). That is what I get for saying the tank was ready for this trip! LOL

Ugh! These things always happen when you're gone or about to leave! Best of luck!

vlangel · Jun 13, 2023

Daniel@R2R said:
Ugh! These things always happen when you're gone or about to leave! Best of luck!

You are so right Daniel but better now than after I already left. My sister came yesterday for her refresher instructions. She had a marine tank in the 80s and is actually very capable even though she has been out of the hobby for 30 years.
Here is a pic of the tank this morning, (which isn't much different than pics I took months ago except the beast of a power head instead of the gyre).

vlangel · Jun 23, 2023

We leave on Sunday morning. Today I changed the batteries in the battery back up pumps and in the auto fish feeder. Tomorrow I will prune back the macroalgae and do a last water change before we head out. The tank is looking great and hopefully it will be when we return.